


A New Home

by my_name_is_gil



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Feelings, Feels, Fluff, Other, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-23 21:41:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18710494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_name_is_gil/pseuds/my_name_is_gil
Summary: Jester and Caleb have a heart-to-heart about their new living situation.





	A New Home

**Author's Note:**

> Campaign 2 Ep. 61 Spoilers!!
> 
> The ending for the last episode got me right in the feelings, man. 
> 
> Inspired by the widojest discord :*

Jester couldn't sleep. She had spent her first night in her room tossing and turning in her new bed. Beau faintly snored from the opposite side of the room, curled up like a kitten, absolutely tangled in her sheets. She wished she could fall asleep that quickly, but her excitement was keeping her up. The prospect of a new house with all of her friends, and they could leave whenever they wanted, was almost too much to think about.

"I just need something to do for a little bit," she mumbled, "Something distracting. That should help." She thought for a moment. "Ooh! I can go and hide dicks all over the kitchen." She chuckled to herself. "The Traveler would like that." Jester rose quietly from her bed and lit the lantern she had placed next to it earlier. Tiptoeing, she made her way down the hall. She passed Fjord and Caduceus' room, where the combined force of their snoring masked the sound of her creaking footsteps. Nott and Yeza's room was silent, though when Jester pressed her ear to the door, she could hear the sound of quiet breathing. "Damn," she thought. "No wild sex tonight. Guess those potions are being saved for later." She shrugged and kept going until the light from underneath the last door sidetracked her. "Caleb, what are you doing up?" The door was already slightly open, so Jester pushed a little bit to peek inside. She expected to see the same old Caleb, mulling over those old books he keeps in his jacket, or practicing some super powerful spell he wanted to try out. But he wasn't doing that at all. He was shirtless, sitting on the edge of his bed, facing away from the door with his face in his hands. She looked a little longer and watched his shoulders occasionally give way. 

"Cay-leb?" Jester whispered, not leaving the doorway. Caleb bolted upright, but he still hadn't yet turned to face her. "What're you doing up this late?"

"Nothing," he responded too quickly, the word getting caught in his throat. He tried to shrug it off. "I was just heading to bed, actually."

Jester shook her head and smiled at him. "You can't lie to me, you know." Caleb turned around and wiped his eyes. They were red and puffy, and no amount of wiping was going to cover up that he'd been crying for a while. His auburn hair was messy, like he had been running his fingers through his hair. He mustered up a weak smile for her, and that warm jittery feeling in her stomach began to flare up. His eyes seemed somehow bluer after he had cried.

"Do you want to talk about it? I'm pretty good at talking." Caleb shook his head, and Jester responded with her best pouty face. It's the same one she would always give Blude when she wanted to sneak downstairs to see Mama sing in the Chateau. "I won't be able to sleep until you feel better. So it's either you talk to me, or I draw more dicks in your spellbooks when you're not looking." A real smile began to creep upon Caleb's face, and Jester couldn't help but smile in return.

"Well, as much as I love finding those… little surprises," Caleb smirked, "I'd rather not collect any more than I already have." He gestured for her to sit. Jester tensed for a moment before taking a seat just slightly too close to him. She could hear him breathing, slow and deep while he tried to collect himself. She had seen Caleb nearly die several times, but she had hardly seen him this shaken. Finally, she put her hand on his shoulder. 

"Are you upset that you can't share a room with Nott anymore because she has to be with her husband and she's probably having lots and lots of sex and you have to sleep here alone?" 

Caleb looked at her, mildly confused, before responding, "No. No, it's nothing like that at all. I'm happy for her; I really am. It's just..."

"What?" Jester said softly. She cocked her head and scooted a little closer to Caleb, their hands bumping momentarily before Caleb pulls his hand to his lap. 

"I- I haven't had a place like this, like a home… in a very long time. The last time I did, I ruined it." He sat for a while in silence before continuing. "Every part of me is telling me I'm doing something wrong. That I should be running. Before I hurt anyone I care about." His eyes flicker up at Jester before staring at his twitching hands. "But I'm not. I'm staying here, against all my better judgement. And the scariest part is that I'm not really that scared about it. In fact..." He looked back up at her, tears starting to return to his eyes. "I don't think I've ever been happier in my life."

Jester smiled and grabbed one of his hands from his lap. He flinched, but let it happen. She took this as an invitation to move even closer to him, to where her thighs touched his. A bit of flushed pink crept into Caleb's cheeks as she turned to face him directly.

"If you think you can get rid of us as easy as running away, you're silly." Caleb turned to her smiling, their faces uncomfortably close. "We're a family now. And in families, you take care of each other." She squeezed his hand, and Caleb smiled even wider. There was something extra kind about his eyes, but Jester couldn't quite place why.  
"But you should go to bed because if you don't, you won't get all of your spells tomorrow, and plus you'll be super sleepy, which is never fun-"

"Thank you, Jester," Caleb cut her off. His eyes flickered to her lips and back to her eyes a few times before he whispered, "Seriously, thank you."

"No problem, Cay-leb." She stood up and held his head while she kissed his forehead. He looked up at her, startled, and his cheeks flushed an even deeper pink. He watched as she walked out of his room, and didn't lie down until he heard her skip down the hall and close the door to her room behind her. Caleb laid down and finally fell asleep, thinking about how soft her lips felt.


End file.
